Mike Repole, the founder of Vitaminwater and BodyArmor, acquired a majority stake in Nobull, the training footwear and apparel brand. Terms were not disclosed.
Impact Capital, Repole’s private equity firm, will buy a majority stake in Nobull, Repole told CNBC. The acquisition marks the first significant investment for Impact Capital.
“I fell in love with just the name, the brilliance of Nobull and what it stands for. It is no excuses, no BS, just get it done,” said Repole.
Founded by two former Reebok executives, Marcus Wilson and Michael Schaeffer, in 2015, Nobull employs about 100 people in the U.S., U.K. and China and sells primarily online.
In 2021, Nobull made waves in replacing Reebok as CrossFit’s sponsor. In May 2022, Nobull became the official training apparel and footwear sponsor of the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions and the umbrella sponsor of PGA Tour Active through 2027. In October 2022, Nobull became the NFL’s official scouting Combine training partner and on-field supplier of apparel and headwear. In December 2022, the NFL invested in the company via the league’s 32 Equity investment fund.
Repole sold BodyArmor to Coca-Cola for $5.6 billion in 2021. Before that, he co-founded Glaceau, the maker of Vitaminwater and Smartwater, which were sold to Coke in 2007.
Repole said he plans to accelerate Nobull’s growth and envisions eventually taking the company public. “If we want to build this big multi-billion platform … taking this public, I think is going to be the best way to go about it,” Repole said.
Co-founders Wilson and Schaeffer plan to continue with Nobull. Wilson told CNBC, “Some of the many things that [Repole] and his team bring are operational excellence. Mike gets what it takes to go from hundreds of millions into billions.”
Photo courtesy Nobull
